DRUG LORD CAPTURED IN MEXICO RAID

Cartel Called 'Completely Dismantled'

MEXICO CITY -- Soldiers raiding a house in central Mexico early
Saturday captured the alleged leader of a drug cartel accused of
spreading terror across much of the country. They also found evidence
that his brother, the gang's alleged co-leader, was dead.

With the arrest of Benjamin Arellano Felix and the death of his
brother Ramon, "the cartel of the Arellanos has been completely
dismantled," Attorney General Ramon Macedo de la Concha told a news
conference.

"It seems that this is a great triumph for justice," President
Vicente Fox said Saturday as he congratulated the army and the
Justice Department.

U.S. and Mexican authorities say the brothers smuggled tons of
cocaine, amphetamines and marijuana into the United States, murdering
hundreds of people -- ranging from farmers to police to a Roman
Catholic cardinal -- to crush threats.

"We've been seeking his apprehension for years," U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administrator Asa Hutchinson said Saturday of Benjamin
Arellano Felix. "It was our top priority."

Still, the breakup of other major gangs in the past has had little or
no long-term effect on the flow of illegal drugs into the United
States.

"Tomorrow there will be another substituting for them for one simple
reason: While there is consumption, demand in the United States,
there will be drug trafficking in Mexico," said Tijuana journalist
Jesus Blancornelas, who survived an assassination attempt by the
gang, in an interview with Mexico's Formato 21 radio station.

Benjamin Arellano Felix was captured without gunfire at about 1 a.m.
as police raided a two-story house in an upper-middle class
neighborhood of Puebla, a city 65 miles east of Mexico City, Mexican
Defense Secretary Ricardo Clemente Vega Garcia announced at a news
conference.

He said an altar to Ramon Arellano Felix was found in the house,
suggesting he was killed a Feb. 10 police shootout in Mazatlan. Ramon
Arellano Felix is on the FBI's 10 most wanted list with a $2 million
reward for his capture.

Officials released a videotape of Benjamin confirming his brother's
death, and Macedo said other new evidence confirmed it, though the
joint statement issued at the news conference merely called the death
a "presumption."

Mexican and U.S. officials have been awaiting the result of DNA and
other tests before formally declaring Ramon Arellano Felix dead.

The body of the man, identified as Jorge Perez Lopez, was retrieved
from a funeral home a day after the shooting by a man claiming to be
his cousin.

Neighbors said Benjamin Arellano Felix had been living quietly since
August on the small, gated street.

A few local reporters managed to visit the yellow house with a
red-tile roof early Saturday, finding a few packed suitcases left
behind. But increasingly nervous neighbors ordered the private
security guard to close off the street by midday.

Prosecutors say the Arellano Felix group rose from remnants of the
Guadalajara-based Pacific Cartel run by Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo
until his arrest in 1989.

They quickly seized control of operations in Tijuana and waged a
bloody war of extermination against former colleagues in the Pacific
Cartel while paying millions of dollars in bribes each year.

Benjamin, who is to turn 50 on Tuesday, allegedly handled finances
and strategy while Ramon, 37, allegedly oversaw a murderous security
and enforcement operation.

Victims included farmers and drug rivals, policemen and innocent
bystanders -- including Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas
Ocampo.

One DEA report said the gang was believed to have killed at least 300 people.

Posadas was shot to death in a fusillade of bullets at the
Guadalajara airport in 1993. Prosecutors say gang members confused
his car with that of their target, rival drug gang leader Joaquin
Guzman Loera.

In 1996, gunmen shot a state prosecutor more than 100 times outside
his home and then drove their van over his body dozens of times.

Several other siblings also are alleged to have roles in the gang.
They include Francisco Javier, 32; Eduardo, 46; and Francisco Rafael,
52, who is imprisoned on drug and arms charges as well as for
complicity in the slaying of Posadas.

Vega said Benjamin Arellano Felix had been taken to "a safe location"
in Mexico City. His wife and a child were found at the house and were
not arrested.

Vega said Arellano had been using the alias of "Licenciado Sanchez."
Licenciado is a common honorific here, referring to a person's
professional degree, Vega said.

Also captured was Manuel Martinez Gonzalez, who Mexican officials
said was an aide to the brothers involved in laundering drug money
and protecting the gang leaders.

On Friday, U.S. officials announced the arrest of 22 people in
Denver, San Diego and the Minneapolis area believed linked to the
Arellano Felix group. Charges included conspiracy to distribute and
possess cocaine.